UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
		COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM

			     presents


                  "Life and its Close Relatives"



                        Dr. Simon McGregor 
 (Adaptive Systems Research Group, University of Hertfordshire, UK)


                    11 November 2009 (Wednesday)
                       Lecture Theatre E351 
		   Hatfield, College Lane Campus
			      3 - 4 pm


		   Everyone is Welcome to Attend

                   Refreshments will be available



Abstract:

When driven by an external thermodynamic gradient, nonbiological physical 
systems can exhibit a wide range of behaviours usually associated with 
living systems. Consequently, Artificial Life researchers should be open 
to the possibility that there is no hard-and-fast distinction between the 
biological and the physical. This suggests a novel field of research: the 
application of biologists' methods for studying organisms to simple 
"near-life" phenomena in non-equilibrium physical systems.

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Hertfordshire Computer Science Research Colloquium
http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~nehaniv/colloq